If you are traveling via car from Warangal and your destination is Sammakka Sarakka Temple then it would take approximately 1 hour for you to reach your destination.

Sammakka Saralamma Jatara or Medaram Jatara is a tribal festival of honouring the goddesses celebrated in the state of Telangana, India.The Jatara begins at Medaram in Tadvai Mandal in Warangal district. It commemorates the fight of a mother and daughter, Sammakka and Saralamma, with the reigning rulers against an unjust law. It is believed that after Kumbha Mela, the Medaram jatara attracts the largest number of devotees in the country. An estimated 10 million people gathered in 2012

It is celebrated in Medaram during the time the goddesses of the tribals is believed to visit them. Medaram is a remote place in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of Dandakaranya, the largest surviving forest belt in the Deccan.

There are many legends about the miraculous powers of sammakka . According to a tribal story, about 6-7 centuries ago,that is in the 13th century, some tribal leaders who went for a hunting found a new born girl (Sammakka) emitting enormous light playing amidst tigers. She was taken to their habitation . The head of the tribe adopted her and brought up as a chief tain (She later became the saviour of the tribals of the region) she was married to Pagididda Raju a feudatory tribal chief of Kakatiyas(who ruled the country of Andhra from Warangal City between 1000 AD and 1380 AD).She was blessed with 2 daughters and one son namely Sarakka, Nagulamma and Jampanna respectively.

Sammakka Sarakka Jatara is a Hindu tribal festival. It is the time for the largest tribal congregation in the world, held every two years (biennually), with approximately ten million people converging on the place, over a period of four days, which is 90 km from Warangal city. The Sammakka Sarakka Jatra is a State Festival of Govt. of Telangana. Many tribal Devotees from different states of India (M.P, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and parts of Jharkhand)reach to the festive place to celebrate the Jatara.

People offer bangaram/gold (jaggeryto their weight to the goddesses and take holy bath in Jampanna Vagu (stream).It is a festival with no vedic or brahmanic influence.

Until 1998, the only way to reach Medaram was by a bullock cart. In 1998 the state government declared the 1000-yr old festival as official and laid down a motorable road.

In 2008, nearly 8 million people were estimated to have attended the festival.And in recent times the gatherings in the jatara are roughly near 10 million. This fair is said to be the largest repeating congregation of tribal communities in the world. The traffic jam during the festival sometimes goes as far as 60 km on the Warangal highway.

In 2012, approximately 1 crore people would attend the world's largest tribal festival.

There are many legends about the miraculous powers of sammakka . According to a tribal story, about 6-7 centuries ago,that is in the 13th century, some tribal leaders who went for a hunting found a new born girl (Sammakka) emitting enormous light playing amidst tigers. She was taken to their habitation . The head of the tribe adopted her and brought up as a chief tain (She later became the saviour of the tribals of the region) she was married to Pagididda Raju a feudatory tribal chief of Kakatiyas(who ruled the country of Andhra from Warangal City between 1000 AD and 1380 AD).She was blessed with 2 daughters and one son namely Sarakka, Nagulamma and Jampanna respectively.

After sometime, there was a severe drought that lasted for years and as a result the mighty Godavari River dried up. pagedde Raju didn't pay tribute to King Pratapa Rudra. In turn king Pratapa rudra sent his army to subdue the tribals and collect the tribute. Then a War was fought between tribal chief pagidde Raju and Kakatiya army on the banks of "Sampenga Vagu" (Jampanna Vagu). The Koya army fought valiantly but could not with stand the well equipped Kakatiya army. Though fought valiantly Pagididda Raju, his daughters Sarakka, Nagulamma, son in law Govinda Raju lost (husband of Sarakka) lives in the battle. Later Jampanna also dies in Sampenga Vagu (after renamed as Jampanna Vagu in the memory of his heroic fight against well trained Kakatiya army). .

Upon hearing this news Sammakka also enters war and fights and causes lot of damage to kakatiya army. Surprised by her Bravery And Valour the Kakatiya Prime Minister visited war ravaged Koya kingdom with proposal of peace and offered Sammakka a place in the emperor’s harem as the chief queen. Samakka turned down the offer and resolved to continue the fight to avenge the dead. The battle continued and Sammakka was seriously wounded . Samakka told her people that as long as they remembered her, she would protect them. Then, she cursed the Kaktiya dynasty to perish And with that wounded body proceeded towards Chilakala gutta and disappeared in the forest. The grieving Koyas searched for their queen all they found were a red ochre box(a container of vermilion), her bangles … and the pug marks of a huge full grown tigress, exactly the same place where she was found as a infant by the koyas. The Kakatiya dynasty came to an end very soon. Since then the Koyas, Waddaras and other Indian tribes and castes have been holding festivals in memory of Sammakka and Sarakka regularly .